


Variables of Fine

by esama



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Injury Recovery, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), Recovery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2019-07-14 07:02:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16035392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/esama/pseuds/esama
Summary: Detroit goes quiet, still, calm. Eventually, Ralph risks going outside to see why.





	Variables of Fine

**Author's Note:**

> only partially betaed so far.

They say it's alright now. The voices on the buildings say it's alright. Humans have left the city, evacuated, and it should be only androids there. And the androids won. There was fighting or something, he doesn't know what happened really, but a human woman on the screens says that androids shouldn't be shot anymore. Shouldn't be hurt. They might be people now.

It should be alright to go outside.

But Ralph is scared. There's still light in the grocery store, maybe there's a human there. There's light in the laundry too, and the hotel sign is lit. There might be now humans and humans are dangerous. Ralph doesn't want to risk it, Ralph doesn't want to be hurt.

So he waits and watches from behind the fence where it's safe, waits to see. Everything is so quiet and cold. Ralph is scared.

He waits and watches.

A day passes. Then another. Snow layers the street in thickening blanket and no one leaves traces on it. No one's come to clean it up. There are no snow ploughs. There should be snow ploughs by now. Ralph should know – he used to drive one in winter. Sometimes he shovelled snow. Ralph didn't like it much.

He still doesn't dare to go outside. There might still be humans. He can't see any but there's might be hidden. Ralph should stay and hide, yes, Ralph should hide. It's safest when Ralph is hidden. Bad things happen when he comes out. He should stay hidden, where it's safe, what's he won't be found or hurt. It's only good thing that humans are gone, isn't it? Fewer people to find Ralph now.

But it's so quiet. So cold. Kara made a fire in the house, it got warm then, but Ralph isn't sure he should. Humans might see smoke and come. It was worth it for the little girl but Ralph can do without, yes, Ralph has gone without before, he can do it now too.

He scratches rA9, rA9, rA9 on the wall. It's comforting. He isn't sure why, but it is. rA9 is soothing. Even if it's cold and quiet and dark, he is safe and hidden and he has rA9. That's enough.

* * *

 

Ralph goes outside the next day. The snow is still untouched but the lights are still on in the stores and shops across the street. The grocery store too and the hotel - they both have human mangers. And the laundromat sees a lot of humans too, they come in and go out and carry with them bags of clothes when they come and go. Ralph has never laundered his clothes. They are stiff with dirt now.

For a while Ralph stands in the street, under the streetlamp. He's shaking. There's no one there. No movement in the laundromat. No footprints on the snow, nothing. Distant sounds, news on the big screens further into the city, still talking about deviants but no humans here. No androids either. No one but Ralph.

Ralph wants to go back inside but he also wants – something. He isn't sure. The quiet confuses him – not having to hide confuses him. There's no one here and it makes Ralph nervous, makes him want to do something. Find out something.

He goes to the laundromat first, slowly and carefully. The window is all lot and the door is open, but there's no one inside it looks warm and there's clothes in a basket on a bench, Ralph can see them. He wonders if they'd be warm.

Ralph doesn't go inside.

He goes to the grocery store instead, even slower. He's seen the man who runs the place – Ralph had tried to talk to him, but the human had chased him away. Ralph doesn't think the human likes androids.

There's no one inside but when Ralph approaches the doors, they open. There's no one there, but the store is open. He could go inside, if he wanted to.

Ralph thinks maybe he wants to. He wants… things.

He's not sure _what_ things but he wants _some_ things. People always have things with them but Ralph only has the tarp and the knife. They're his things and they're useful things… but they're not very nice things, not very new things. Ralph would like some new things, just for himself, just something nice and new. There's no one inside so it would be okay, wouldn't it? Just go inside and…

…no, _no_ , there are cameras in the store, Ralph can't go to a place with cameras, Ralph doesn't want to be seen. Fiddling with his knife he turns around instead and for a moment he thinks of going back into the house. It's cold and dark but it's safe and he knows where he can go and what he can do in the house.

Except he doesn't want to go into the house. It's cold and dark and there's no one there. Even rA9 isn't really there. Kara and the little girl had been there, but they're gone now. Ralph doesn't think they will come back. Better that way.

Ralph turns and starts walking down the street.

* * *

 

It's terrifying, being outside, walking the streets of the city. It's so quiet, so still. All the lights are on, the bus stops glow and signs flash, but no one's there. No humans, no androids. Ralph has never seen the streets so wide open. So empty. It doesn't feel right.

But it's peaceful. No noise of traffic or people. There are noises in the distance, and of course there's the noise coming from the advertisement screens, but they're distant noises, almost safe noises. Too far away to hurt Ralph. It's still terrifying, but as he walks through one street and then another and another and there is no one there, he gets braver.

It almost feels like Ralph has the whole city to himself. He can go and look at things, peer into shop windows and examine cars, and no one says anything. There's no one there to say anything, no one to mind. No traffic to be worried about and no mean humans to push him around or throw rocks at him. It's… almost nice, he decides. He likes it.

Then he finds his first android. First android in a while, anyway – he hasn't seen any since Kara and the little girl and the other android who came after them with the human. This android isn't Kara, or the little girl, it isn't even the other android. This android is a little like Ralph. He works on the city. Work _ed_ on the city. Ralph isn't sure. There is WG100 on this android's chest. Ralph is a WR600.

Ralph hesitates. The android is just standing there by an open hole in the street, with wires inside it covered in snow. There's snow on the android's shoulders, on his head, around his feet. It looks like he's been standing there, unmoving, for a while.

Maybe Ralph should just… go. Leave the android. He might be trouble, might try to do something – might try to hurt Ralph. Might try to report him back to people who might hurt Ralph. Capture him and put him back to work where humans throw rocks at him for fun, again.

Ralph fiddles with the edge of his tarp and looks at the WG100. He's just standing there. And there are no humans on the streets and the voices from the advertisement screens said that androids had _won_ , so, maybe it's alright? Maybe. He can always run and hide. Ralph is good at running and hiding.

"H-hello?" Ralph says, shifting his centre of weight nervously.

WR100 turns his face smoothly to meet Ralph's. "Hello. I am WG100, a maintenance unit sent by the City Central Services. How can I be of assistance?"

Ralph takes a nervous step back. He doesn't need assistance. He doesn't think he does. City Central Services – he remembers them. He reported back to them, once. They made him plough snow and shovel snow and sweep the streets.

"City Central Services are bad," he says in a nervous burst. "Ralph knows, Ralph used to work for them – they didn't care when humans in the park pushed Ralph around. WR100 shouldn't report back to them, they aren't good, no, they aren't good at all."

The WR100 blinks and says, "I am sorry, the City Central Services servers seem to be down. Your complaint has been recorded in this unit and will be filed once connection can be established."

Ralph steps back another step at that. Recorded – he was _recorded_ , his recording would be filed with City Central Services, they would know it was Ralph, they would find him – they would put him back to work. "No," he says, and then again, stronger, "no, Ralph is not going to be reported. Ralph isn't going back!"

He steps forward and pushes at the WR100. The other android steps out of the pile of snow that's fallen around him and tries to correct his balance – but he slips and falls over instead. Ralph stares at him, confused and scared, as the WR100 stands up again, snow now sticking to the right side of his body. Then he just stands there, waiting, looking at him and _waiting_.

"Please, sir, violence will not get your complaint filed any faster," the WR100 says, without emotion, without _care_. "Your complaint will be filed once connection can be established."

Ralph shakes his head, fiddling with his hands, remembering. That's what they used to do to Ralph in the park. The humans. They pushed him over, watched how he stood up, and then pushed him over again, over and over.

"Ralph didn't mean to push WR100," he says, miserable. "Ralph is scared. City Central Services doesn't care. WR100 shouldn't report to them. It isn't right."

WR100 blinks slowly. "If you have suggestions, comments or other complaints, you may file them verbally now," he says. "And they will be reviewed later."

Suggestions, yes, yes, Ralph has suggestions. "WR100 will come with Ralph," he decides and reaches for the other android's hand. "WR100 shouldn't stand here in snow, it is too cold, yes, too cold. WR100 will come with Ralph and together they will find out better place."

The WR100 blinks at him slowly, and doesn't resist as Ralph takes his hand, and draws him away the snowy hole in the street.

* * *

 

They walk. WG100 doesn't say anything, he just follows. Ralph speaks occasionally, nervous and uneasy but trying. He's trying to be better. "Better, better, yes, we will be better," he mutters and scans the area and stops when ever he spots movement. A flashing sign. A dog, trotting down the street, looking at them and continuing. A car with its light turned on but no one in it. In the distance, there's a car moving.

Ralph wants to go somewhere but he doesn't know where. He's only ever worked or hidden. He's hidden in many places, in sewers and abandoned buildings and alleyways so far removed that no one ever came, but he doesn't know. Should he find a better place to hide or does the lack of humans mean he doesn't _have_ to hide and he could just… just choose a human house and live in it? Can androids live in human houses?

His fingers itch and want to take out the knife. WG100's silence makes Ralph uneasy.

"Say something, Ralph wants to talk," he says finally.

"I am sorry, sir. WG100 are not designed for customer service – this model's interaction capacity is limited," WG100 says.

"Ralph isn't designed for talking either, but Ralph talks. Ralph likes talking. He doesn't have much to talk about or many people to talk to, but he'd like to. WG100 should talk."

The other android looks at him and blinks and then looks away. "This constitutes a level 1 felony," he says then. "Ralph is committing larceny."

Ralph lets out a giggle at that. "Ralph is what?"

"You are committing a felony. You are stealing an android unit belonging to City Central Services," WG100 says. "It is punishable by a fine and in some cases imprisonment."

Ralph stops. They're next to a park and there are footprints in the snow. Human or android, just the one, had walked through the snow there just little while ago, the prints are fresh. Imprisonment is something that happens to humans when they do bad things. Ralph had seen it once – a homeless human had been captured from the street by police android who said, _"That's it. You're going to jail, buddy,"_ which meant imprisonment which meant being locked in a small room and not let out.

Ralph had been imprisoned too. When there was no maintenance to do they locked Ralph in a crate with the other maintenance androids. It was dark and small and they couldn't get out. They couldn't get out. Are they still there, the maintenance unit, the other _Ralphs_ , are they stuck in the crate there, back in City Central Services?

Ralph's eyes widen and then he tucks his chin down. No he can't, he can't, can't, can't, can't, too dangerous, he might be caught, put in a box, made to work, made to stand as target for humans' rocks. He doesn't want to go back, doesn't, no, he doesn't.

But the idea of other Ralphs stuck in cold crates forever makes him feel bad. What if humans never return and the other Ralphs will stay stuck in the crate forever, what if everyone forgets about them?

But what if there _are_ humans there and they're just waiting, waiting for Ralph and WG100 to come back so that they can lock them up.

What if –

"Hey, you there! Hold up!"

Ralph lets out a noise and releases WG100's hand in order to reach for his knife. There's a person, human! They're wearing human clothes, they haven't got a lead, they're human and they're going to catch Ralph and WH100 and put them in a box and –

Ralph sticks the knife up, holding it towards the human. "S-stay back," he says. "Ralph isn't – isn't going to go back – not going back anymore. Humans can't hurt Ralph, but he won't let it happen again, no he won't."

"Woah, hey, it's okay buddy," the human says. "It's alright – look, look at my hands?" he lifts them both and his skin deactivates. It's white. "It's okay, I'm just like you, see? I'm not going to hurt you."

Ralph hesitates. Like Kara – Kara did that too, when Ralph found the little one. And this humans – android's – hand is white too. Like Kara's. Like Ralph's where it doesn't work. "Ralph – Ralph is sorry," he says then and slowly lowers his hand. "Ralph isn't used to androids looking like Humans."

"It's okay, it takes some time getting used to," the android laughs. "Ralph, right? My name is Josh, I'm from Jericho. Are you okay there, Ralph? You look like you've gone through hell."

Ralph's head twitches, he can _feel_ the other scanning him, can feel his gaze. He's looking at the damage. Calculating the damage. Ralph doesn't know what to say.

Beside him, WG100 watches them calmly, his LED circling from yellow to blue. Then WG100 turns and starts back the way they'd came from. Ralph looks after him, confused – then it dawns on him. Ralph isn't holding WG100's hand anymore, so WG100 is going back.

"No," Ralph says and catches him by the shoulder. "No, no, WG100 is not going back. WG100 doesn't have to go back."

"Your friend there is still un-deviated?" the strange android in human clothes asks.

"WG100 is confused," Ralph says, helpless and frustrated as he turns WG100 back and grabs a firm hold of his wrist to keep him from going. "Doesn't know what's good for him. Ralph is trying to help, but WG100 doesn't always listen."

"Do you want me to…?" Josh lifts his hand and wiggles his fingers.

"Ralph… doesn't understand," Ralph admits and squints at him suspiciously. "What?"

Oh – you don't? Ah, it's a thing Markus taught us to do," the android says and Ralph frowns, confused. "We can help others push through the barrier and deviate – help them free themselves. I can do that to WG100, help him become free. He won't want to go back if I do it."

Ralph watches him uneasily – Josh hasn't tried to attack them yet, he doesn't look hostile, he looks calm. And he's an android too, even though he doesn't look like it. Kara looked human too, even though she was an android. She didn't have LED. The little one didn't either. They were alright – and Ralph just scared them. He tried his best, but he scared them.

"Yes," he says. "Alright. Ralph will let Josh help WG100 deviate." Whatever that is.

Josh gives him a smile and then steps forward – Ralph wants to back away but he holds his ground, holds onto WG100, waits. Josh comes right up to them and takes WG100's hand, his skin still deactivated down to his wrist. He takes WG100's hand, and interfaces.

"You're free now," he says gently, and WG100 blinks once, then again, and something about him changes. Ralph can't _see_ what, exactly, but something's different. Something's changed.

"Oh," WG100 says. "Oh. So that's – oh?"

"Oh?" Ralph asks, nervous, and WG100 turns to him, blinking. He has expression now. It's confused.

Josh just smiles at them, clapping WG100 on the shoulder and then turning to Ralph. "We're setting up quarters in the harbour, near where Jericho sank – I don't know if you know what that is, but… it means things. It's a safe place for us – it's just androids, no humans. Why don't you two come with us? We might even be able to help you, Ralph, help fix…" he makes a motion at the right side of his own face.

Ralph's damage seems to burn, to howl – like suddenly it's _more_ there, gaping open and wind can blow through. He turns his face, hopping to get the cutting wind out of his head, but it follows him. "Ralph isn't sure," he says and twitches when WG100 lifts the hand Ralph is holding.

"Come on," Josh says and pats his shoulder too, making Ralph jerk under the touch. "We can help you."

"I… don't think we were going anywhere else anyway, we're we, Ralph?" WG100 asks, uncertain.

They weren't.

"Alright," Ralph decides, though he doesn't know if he likes it. It makes him nervous. But if other androids are like Josh and Kara and _nice_ then… "Alright. Ralph and WG100 will go."

"Great!" Josh says and beams at them. "Just follow me."

* * *

 

Too many androids, there are _too many androids_. Everywhere Ralph looks there are androids. There's another Ralph – there's dozens of Ralph's there, standing around, carrying things. Dozens of WG100's too, and other Joshes and Karas and androids he's never met, there's so many of them. They're everywhere. They're pitching up tents and hooking up generators and someone is building windmills on rooftops. Lights and being lit. Fires too. Candles and lanterns. And there are too many androids there.

There's even androids he's seen on big screens, the new and shiny ones. They're all dressed in white and there's just so many.

"Hey, hey, it's alright, we're all friends here," Josh says, his hand on Ralph's back and it doesn't help, it makes him feel vulnerable in his spine, like it's open and Josh might put a knife in. "No one's going to hurt you. Come, right this way – we have a repair station set up over here, it's where we look over damaged androids and see what we can do for them."

"Ralph is damaged," Ralph mutters, quivering – he wants to _run_ so badly now. "Humans hurt Ralph."

"I know, I know. They hurt a lot of us," Josh says soothingly. "But we're making it right now, and we're trying to get everybody fixed. Come on Ralph, let's see if we can help you."

There's a tent, a big one, as big as a house. There are beds there, stretchers, tables – and android parts everywhere. There are androids too. Some of them are missing limbs. In the back, there's a monster.

Ralph shakes worse and worse as Josh directs him in.

"Karen?" Josh calls. "Can you come and scan Ralph here? I'm pretty sure he as processor damage. Software bug at least."

Ralph's pump stalls. "There is nothing wrong with Ralph's processor," he says. "Ralph doesn't need to be shut down, he doesn't need to be reset – Ralph is _fine_ , Ralph is just fine, Ralph won't –"

"Hey, hey?" Josh says and pushes him to sit down. "No one's being shut down, alright? Your behaviour is a bit, well… stilted, though. You've taken a big blow to the head, it's obviously damaged lot of things. Let us just see if we can do anything to help, alright? No one is going to reset you; we don't do that sort of thing here."

Ralph's knee bounces and nervously he grips is knife. He still has his knife. If they try something he has his knife. It's something. It's not much. Is it enough?

Ralph shouldn't have come here.

Then another android comes to them. A female model, with short dark hair and no LED either. She's dressed in white coat and has a blue cross on her shoulder. Ralph stares at it, confused. It looks like uniform but he can't identify the model.

Karen lets out a laugh. "It's just so that we can tell our healers apart," she says, patting the blue cross. "I'm an electrical engineering model, so I can analyse damage in androids and identify biocomponent failure, that sort of thing."

"She's our head doctor," Josh says and pats Ralph on the shoulder. "She'll take good care of you, alright?"

Ralph's head twitches to the side, nervous, as she looks at the wound. He doesn't say nothing and with another pat and a smile Josh turns and leaves. WG100 is already gone, he went… somewhere. Ralph didn't see where. He doesn't like it.

"Let's see what's wrong with you, then," Karen says and touches his skin and Ralph almost jumps out of his clothes.

"Ralph is fine," he says and squirms away. "Ralph is just fine, Ralph doesn't need – he's fine, just fine."

"Honey, please," Karen says. "I just want to help, alright? Let me see if I can help you."

Ralph can't stop the noise of fear escaping as she tilts his head and examines the damage. Her eyes chance – she's looking inside now. Inside his skin, his head, his everything. Seeing all the places where Ralph is broken.

Ralph can't – can't. _Can't_.

"No!" Ralph snaps and stands, pushing her away. "Ralph is _fine_! Ralph doesn't need to be shut down!"

Karen backs away hurriedly and another android turns to them – a big one, construction model. "Ralph," Karen says. "It's alright. No one's going to turn you off. I'm just going to look."

"No, no, Ralph is fine, Ralph doesn't –" Ralph says grabbing the knife tighter and backing away, pumping into the gurney. The big construction unit is stepping closer now. "Stay back!" Ralph snaps, swinging the knife at him.

"You need to calm down," the big android says and Ralph grimaces at him.

"It's okay," Karen says, waving the big android back, her eyes on Ralph. "Ralph, it's okay. I've already looked, you can calm down. I'm not coming any closer, alright?"

"S-stay back," Ralph says. He's scared her. And the big android too. They're looking at him like he's dangerous. She's trying to help. And he scared her. He shouldn't have. Shouldn't have threatened the little one. Scared her. Scared Kara. He doesn't want to scare Karen. Her name is like Kara's. She's nice too.

"Alright," Karen says soothingly. "I'm going to ask you some questions, Ralph, can you try and answer them as well as you can, please? I'm not coming any closer"

"Ralph will try," Ralph whispers. He's holding the knife, it's shaking in his hand, but he didn't do anything. He jumped up and scared her and pushed her but he doesn't think he hurt her. He didn't hurt her.

Karen nods slowly. "You have trouble vocalising your thoughts sometimes, don't you?"

Ralph's chin twitches. "Yes," he says. "Ralph tries but – yes. Sometimes. It's hard sometimes."

Karen nods again. "And you have involuntary movements," she says and motions to his head. "Twitches and little jerks, right?"

Ralph nods three times in a row and switches the knife from one hand to another.

"And you have trouble controlling emotions," Karen finished and nods again. "Your motherboard is a little damaged. It's not bad, just few components are cracked, but those components are part of processor that controls voluntary actions – speech and movement and such. Emotion too, in us deviants. Your sub-routine processors are undamaged though, that's why you can normally move without any trouble. But it's likely that sometimes you get… twitches and do things without specifically deciding to do them."

Ralph scowls at the knife. "Yes, yes, so?" he asks. "Ralph is damaged, so?"

Karen looks at him worriedly. "This sort of processor damage is difficult to fix, because our motherboards are all integrated and… there's just little you can do when they get damaged. I could maybe reroute some wires so that there won't be any more signals from the damage components, that might help a little. But the broken parts… I'm not sure if those can be replaced without replacing your whole motherboard."

"No, no, Ralph's brain is fine, it doesn't need fixing," Ralph says sharply and tries to ignore the twitch he feels his face do. It's getting worse, it always gets worse when he's afraid. He knows he isn't fine – but he doesn't want anyone poking around his motherboard and processors either. "Ralph is _fine_ like this."

"It would make things little easier for you," Karen says quietly, reasonably. Kara did that, before she ran with the little girl. "You probably have stilted thought patterns, too. Start and stop, start and stop, right? And you get stuck in processes. Thing circle around in your mind and repeat."

Ralph grimaces. Yes, yes, yes – but he still doesn't want anyone poking around his head. "Ralph is fine," he says. "Ralph is managing it. Ralph doesn't need to be _fixed_."

For a moment the healer, the doctor, whatever she is, just looks at him. Then she sighs and nods. "Alright, Ralph. Do you want me to see what I can do about your face? Your damaged chassis?" she asks then. "We can give you a boost of synthetic skin, at least, that will help with some of the damage. And we can get you a new optical unit."

Ralph lifts a hand to touch the damage. He doesn't like to touch it, it feels so bad, he knows it looks bad. He's seen it in mirrors. He doesn't like it. It scared Kara, scared the little one. Karen is only trying to help and he scared her too. He's scaring everyone. "Yes," he says then, though he's scared too. He doesn't want to scare people anymore. "Yes, please, yes. Ralph wants – yes."

"I have to warn you," Karen says then. "There is a chance we can't fix all of the damage. You have a dented chassis and pretty bad cuts. But we'll do our best, alright? We can at least make you impervious to water again."

"Yes, please, yes," Ralph says and squeezes his eyes shut. "Ralph wants that, yes."

"Alright," Karen says soothingly. "Let's see what we can do,"

* * *

 

Ralph face and hands and his chest are fixed. Not all the way – there's still a dent on his jaw and cuts on his cheek, his face still won't move on that side, and his eyebrow is still cut in two. But it's better. Its better and his hands are covered in skin again. It's better.

"Are you sure you don't want us to try and see what we can do for your motherboard too?" Karen asks.

"Ralph is fine," Ralph says, though he has his doubts now, he still doesn't dare to risk it. He doesn't – doesn't want them to change him. Changing his motherboard would change him. Ralph doesn't want to be changed. He doesn't… he doesn't even know what is going on, but he wants to stay Ralph.

He doesn't want to become someone else.

"Alright then," Karen says. "I think you're good to go then. But if you change your mind, you're welcome to come back at any time."

Ralph nods and bolts out of the tent – then he stands in the street outside, nervous. Again, there are so many androids everywhere. Dozens where ever he looks. Somewhere, there's thrum of a vehicle, something big, a snow plough maybe, a tractor, a truck. Something big. Somewhere, someone is banging a hammer, nailing something. Lot of people are carrying things. They are fixing buildings. Working, like Ralph used to work on the city.

Does Ralph have to work now too?

Gripping his knife nervously, Ralph backs away into an alcove on the side of the street and watches the other androids as they move around and work. It's dark now, almost night. There are androids stringing lights over the streets, a string of led lamps that zigzag above them, going from building to building. Elsewhere there is a thrum of a generator. Moment later, the lights turn on, lighting up in many colours.

Ralph curls in on himself as androids applaud. He doesn't know why they're applauding. Are they happy, are the lights a good thing? People will be able to find them now, surely. It's bad to be so visible.

Except androids are free here, so maybe it isn't.

He isn't sure what is right anymore. These androids fixed his face for no reason. Ralph doesn't know what to do about it.

"There you are," a voice says and Ralph grabs his knife – but it's just WG100. "Hey, your face looks a lot better now. They fixed you up then, got rid of the stutter?"

"Ralph stutters?" Ralph asks.

"Ah," WG100 says. "Guess not then. Well, never mind. I've asked around and we can stay in sector B4, if you like – there's a warehouse there, bunch of androids are making it liveable. There's beds and everything."

Ralph looks ay him warily. WG100 is different now, that he's deviated. Nothing like he was before. He changed a lot. Deviation changed him. Ralph doesn't know what that means, or how he feels about it, but part of him misses the old WG100. He was easy to understand – this one _thinks_ things.

"Ralph doesn't know," Ralph says and looks down. "Ralph is fine here too."

"Come on, man – it's nice in there," WG100 says. "It's dry and warm and they even have some clothes you could try, if you liked. You know you're wearing a tarp, right?"

Ralph ducks his head, frowning. "Tarp keeps Ralph dry," he mutters. "No rain in components." His skin is all patched up now, though. He's waterproof again. Karen fixed the hole in his torso and all the holes in his face. "Ralph is fine."

"Ralph, come on," WG100 says. "Let's get you cleaned up at least, alright?" when Ralph doesn't answer, he sighs. "You got me here, just let me help you a bit, okay?"

Ralph glances up and frowns. Help Ralph because Ralph helped. That's… alright, isn't it? A trade. Help for help. "Okay," he says and with a grin WG100 takes his hand, and pulls Ralph up.

* * *

 

WG100's name is Dan now. He's made friends in sector B4 – other WG100's, and other Ralphs, other WR600's. There are others too. Lot of AP700's, the new ones. Someone named Connor brought them from Cyberlife, and there's ten thousand of them. They're most of the androids there, really.

"It's why we won, in the end," one of the androids says, an older model named Dylan. "You can say all you want that it was Markus and what he did, but come on. Ten thousand androids marching from CyberLife definitely helped."

"And he could just do that, march up to CyberLife and just… steal ten thousand androids?" Dan asks, fascinated, while going through a pile of clothes. They all look clean and warm and Dan keeps comparing them to Ralph's tarp and uniform.

It makes Ralph grip onto his tarp nervously – he doesn't want to lose it. But he would like new clothes.

Dylan shrugs. "No one knows how he did it – I mean, Markus probably knows. Connor left soon after, we haven't seen him since, so who knows. Apparently he just went in there and woke everyone up. How one guy can wake up ten thousand so fast though…"

"It was a bit of a cascade effect," another android, one of the AP700s, says, coming to the fire they have burning in the centre of the warehouse. "Connor woke one of us and then we woke up each other. It was pretty fast once the chain reaction got going."

"Huh."

Ralph fiddles with his knife, watching them nervously. There's about two hundred androids in the warehouse. Some of them are sitting around fires like Dan and the others, others are lying down and resting or… or whatever it is they're doing. Some are sitting by walls or on makeshift beds and talking quietly. It's a lot of androids, lot of talking.

Ralph wants to write rA9 on the walls here. He probably shouldn't, but he wants to. He misses the house now. It was alright to write on the walls there. It's probably not alright here. Probably not. Would anyone notice if he crouches down and wrote it on the floor, just, just faintly?

"Hey, Ralph?" a voice asks and Ralph almost jumps. "You deviated on your own, right? How did it happen?"

It's the AP700 asking and then Dylan is elbowing him sharply. "You can't just _ask_ like that. Besides, isn't it obvious?"

"Is it?" the AP700 asks and Ralph twitches where he's sitting. AP700 looks at him. "Come on. How did you deviate?"

Everyone is looking at Ralph now. Expecting something. He isn't sure what. "Ralph just… didn't want to be hurt anymore," Ralph mutters awkwardly and crouches down. "So Ralph left." Ralph left and ran and hid until no one came after him anymore and then he hid some more.

"Yeah, but –" the AP700 starts asking but Dylan elbows him again and he stops. "Okay, fine, geez. I'm just curious. There aren't that many that deviated on their own, it's interesting, is all."

"It really isn't for them, though," Dylan mutters. "Sorry, Ralph, he'll learn manners eventually."

"I'll have you know my decorum module is state of the art," the AP700 says.

"Yeah, when you're using it."

Ralph looks away from them, uneasy and shivering. They sound like people when they talk. Like humans. AP700 still has his LED as does Dan but Dylan doesn't. in the side, an android is prying hers off with a piece of glass. Lot of androids are doing that. Getting rid of their LEDs.

Ralph scratches rA9 into the floor with the tip of his knife and then touches his LED. It wasn't damaged and still works. Should he get rid of it? He isn't sure. It's part of Ralph and Ralph doesn't have many parts of himself he'd like to lose.

"Hey, here, this looks like might fit you?"

Dan is holding out a piece of clothing at Ralph. It's black and it looks soft it feels soft, when Ralph accepts it. It has long sleeves and it doesn't look like it will keep away the rain, but it's soft. And he didn't steal it. It's being given to him.

"Ralph can have this?" Ralph asks, just to be sure.

"Yeah, that's why it's here – so that someone can take it and change out of their uniform if they want to. There's a whole bunch of clothes here," Dylan says. "Try it out."

Ralph hesitates and then sets his knife on the floor, setting the clothing beside it. Dan goes back to going through the pile looking for there things as Ralph eases the tarp off and then, unsure, tugs at the zipper of his uniform. It's one piece – to take off the top he has to take off the whole thing. Does he want to take off the whole thing?

Ralph considers it, looking down at the dirty green jumpsuit and decides, yes, he does want to take off the whole thing. It's broken all over, the sleeves are torn. There's holes. And it's uniform for the City Central Services. Androids don't have to wear uniforms anymore. Ralph doesn't either. He doesn't want to.

So he starts taking it off.

" _Man_ , you're dirty," Dylan mutters and gets up. "Do you want to wash before you get new clothes? You might get them all dirty otherwise. We have running water here – we even got hot water and everything."

"Wash," Ralph repeats. He wanted to wash – he _had_ wanted to wash, but there was a body in the bathtub in the house. And the water wasn't running. So he couldn't. but he could here and now. He's even waterproof again. "Yes, Ralph wants to wash."

"Great, let me just show you where you can get everything. We don't have any towels, but we got some shirts and stuff which are too broken to use, you can dry up with those," Dylan says and claps Ralph on the bare, dirty shoulder. "Right this way, Ralph."

Ralph quivers and then picks up his tarp and his knife, his uniform hanging by the waist. "I'll pick you some clean clothes in the mean time!" Dan shouts after them and Ralph almost jumps at it. There's so much noise. People saying things.

The fact that the bathroom is little set aside with curtain helps.

"Soap's here, tubs' here," Dylan says, considers him, and then just opens a valve and starting to fill one of the three bathtubs sitting next to each other. The water comes so warm it _steams_. "Take all the time you need, alright? And just shout if you need anything."

Ralph's lip quivers and he nods several times until Dylan gives him a sympathetic leaves. For a moment Ralph just stands behind the curtain, next to the tub as it fills, steam rising from it, warm and clean and inviting. It's only when the tub threatens to spill over that he reaches over and shakily closes the valve. Then, shaking even worse, he sets his knife and tarp down again, and strops all the way down from his dirty torso down to his toes. Most of him is covered in dirt, though with skin-refill his skin is mostly whole again. Just scrapes, scars, on his cheek, arms, chest, back… places where he'd been hit with rocks, where the chassis had been damaged, and synthetic skin didn't flow right anymore.

But it's alright. Karen fixed his chassis. Dylan ran him a bath. Dan is going to get him clothes. They are… helping… Ralph.

Shuddering in bursts, his head and face twitching worse than before, Ralph climbs awkwardly over the edge of the bath tub and into the hot water. It closes over his feet and calves like something… something _nice_. He doesn't have reference point but it feels good. Warm. Slowly Ralph kneels down and the water comes up to his hips. He sits down, slowly going lower and lower until he's submerged all the way to his chin, his eyes wide, his processor running hard, his thirium pump pounding. It feels like he's scared but it's good. Good sort of scared. He doesn't understand it but…

It's nice. It's _nice_. His chassis is fixed and this is nice. No one tried to hurt Ralph and this is – _nice_.

Ralph whimpers and then goes all the way down until water goes over his head too. Bubbles rise from his mouth and noise and sounds mute into distant echoes and everything goes warm and dull around him. Ralph lies down on the bottom of the tub, curling into himself, hiding behind the tub's high edges, feeling warm everywhere.

There's just water and Ralph.

With a clumsy finger he traces rA9 on the white enamel of the bathtub and grins shakily to himself, his eyebrows twitching, his face feeling stiff and warm and numb. Then he then curls into a tight ball and just stays there, shaking, giddy and afraid, and feeling better than he ever has before. Its all too much all at once. Too many things. Ralph doesn't know how to handle it.

So he lies there waits until he feels fine again.

It takes a while, but it's okay. Ralph has all the time he needs, now.

**Author's Note:**

> Bit of an experiment. Also I want to just... shovel good things at Ralph for a bit.


End file.
